Return to 2016 Best SF/F Short Fiction
Best Stories
Novellas
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(Portal Fiction; Wayward Children) Eleanor
West's Home for Wayward Children helps kids who passed through a portal to
another world and returned unable to cope with this one.
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Penric And The Shaman
by Lois McMaster Bujold Time: 2h:05m (Novella) Issue: Penric And The Shaman 2016
(High Fantasy; Five Gods) Young
Penric, a powerful but fledgling sorcerer, joins the hunt for a fugitive
sorcerer, suspected of killing his own best friend.
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The
Journeyman: In The Great North Wood by Michael F.
Flynn Time: 1h:16m (Novella) Issue: Analog 06|16
(SF; The Journeyman) Teodorq and his
friend Sammi agree to organize security for a nobleman's archaeological
expedition. They expect danger from the local tribes, but not from the
artifacts themselves.
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(Horror; Lychford) Just before
Christmas, the ghost of a little boy appears in the vicarage and disturbs the
vicar and her two friends.
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(SF) In 2066 a woman struggles over
continuing life-support for her comatose mother and over what to do with the
things she's leaving behind.
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Where
There is Nothing, There is God by David
Erik Nelson Time: 1h:14m (Novella) Issue: Asimov's 12|16
(Time Travel) Paul finds a job selling
drugs for the mafia in 1770s America.
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Novelettes
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(SF) Frere-Jones controls the nanobot
"grains" that help protect the ecology in the bit of land she
"anchors." She's come to view the grains as a tyranny, but there
doesn't seem to be much she can do about it.
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(Superhero SF; Wild Cards) Tiago, a
fifteen-year-old orphan boy scraping by on his own in Rio de Janeiro,
contracts the "Wild Card" virus and ends up horribly disfigured.
But the virus has given him a gift too.
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(SF Humor) Ruth, a 22-year-old Walmart
cashier, meets a very weird-and-scary-looking alien, who seems down on his
luck, and brings him home with her.
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(Superheroes) A kid who was burned to
death returns to life as a human torch, eager for revenge. Old Man Gasper has
a similar story, a different power, and advises caution.
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(SF) Before Mimi dies from
Alzheimer's, Walter gets her an illegal consciousness transfer done in India.
Then all he has to do is sneak the copy back into the US.
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(Hard SF) Fifty million years after
the extinction of humanity, a new intelligent race tries to understand
records left on the moon.
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(SF) Nawiz has pursued the boy who
ruined her life across the galaxy. Before she can get her vengeance, they're
both swallowed by a gigantic sea creature, and it will be a struggle merely
to survive.
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(Near-Future SF) Benji was an ordinary
terrier until his master decided to have him sentientized.
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(Fairy Tale) Young Miryem supports her
family lending money at interest, but things get difficult when someone from
Faerie makes her an offer she can’t refuse.
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(Historical SF) In 1955, Nancy's best
friend Ellen dates a bad boy who introduces her to Bug Town, where aliens
live. Nothing is the same after that.
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Ten Poems
for the Mossums, One for the Man by Suzanne
Palmer Time: 24m (Novelette) Issue: Asimov's 07|16
(Hard SF) Davin is spending a year
alone on Ekye to observe the local wildlife and, he hopes, to recover his
lost creativity.
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(Hard SF) Mitchell was a navigator on
the Francis Drake, but something terrible happened. The doctors tell him he's
losing his mind, but he doesn't believe them. If only he could remember what
happened.
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(Near-Future Hard SF) Lita learned
Rob's obsession with alternate universes in college, but waning interest in
science made it hard for him to explore it.
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(Post Singularity) James seeks
fulfillment through his sculpture, even though it all seems pointless in a
perfect world run by Ais.
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Short Stories
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And Then,
One Day, The Air Was Full Of Voices by Margaret
Ronald Time: 17m (ShortStory) Issue: Clarkesworld 117
(SF) Dr. Kostia spent thirty years
interpreting broadcasts from the Coronals for other people on Earth. The last
broadcasts have caused a lot of disruption, even in her own family.
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(Military SF) Constanza flies a
stealthed warplane for the US in a near-future war, and she's picked for a
series of special missions carrying a single, silent, soldier up to the front
and back.
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(Historical Fantasy) On the eve of the
Nazi takeover, a young German man's first assignment fixing a living statue
becomes more complicated than he expected.
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(Climate Change) Derek and Zack visit
the underwater ruins of New Orleans, where they'd honeymooned fifty years
before.
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(Hard SF) Trying to find
"outside," Ogby's team digs into the ice at the bottom of the
world, but Roov's team has been getting better results blasting rocks at the
top.
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(Post Apocalypse) Just as things are
looking up, survivors in a Northwest community face a threat from the east.
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(Hard SF) Four Warm Currents leads a
project to drill through the ice at the Roof of the World to finally discover
what’s on the other side, but the closer he gets, the more opposition there
is.
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(Sports SF) Gloria and her friends
play one last game of hockey before they leave the alien space station they've
been stuck on ever since their dreams of interstellar competition collapsed.
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(Fantasy Horror) The narrator resents
being transformed into a monster to fight for her tribe, not least because
she thinks they're screwing it up.
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(Near-Future SF) Lydia's boyfriend,
Ross, was just a brain in a jar. So how, exactly, did she injure him during
sex?
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(Horror) Ignoring how the adult world
is falling apart, teenage Annie tries to lose herself in a new video game.
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(Modern Fantasy) A Hatian girl and a
Syrian girl flee their countries but with very different results.
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(Chinese Fantasy) Sometimes a unicorn assisted Judge Kao Yu, and because
he was so just and honest, he never feared its judgment. Until now.
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(African Fantasy) After her father's
death, Tausi needs someone to take her from Epoulu before her aunts marry her
off.
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(High Fantasy) Despite the rebellion,
the narrator makes friends with a local girl, and she wonders when their
bird-like overlords will come to replace her heart.
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(Military SF) On top of fighting
against an anarchist revolution, a soldier copes with what he's sure is a man
pretending to be a woman in the Women's Volunteer Corps.
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(SF Horror) EncelaCorp "streams"
the consciousness of explorers to distant parts of the galaxy. Jonathan
worries that the experience may have changed his wife somehow.
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Notable Stories
Novellas
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(Transhuman SF) Marmeg's augments are
illegal and hand-tweaked, but if she can win a race for augmented humans, she
can earn enough money to become licensed and have a real future.
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(Black Lovecraftian Horror) In 1924
Harlem, 20-year-old Tommy Tester plays bad jazz and runs minor scams. When an
old man offers him $500 to play at his house, he knows there's a catch. It's
just not what he expects.
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The
Burning Light by Bradley P. Beaulieu and Rob Ziegler Time: 1h:55m (Novella)
Issue: Tor Novella 11/01/16
(Post Apocalypse) The Light is an
addiction that afflicts telepaths. Colonel Chu hunts Zola, an addict who may
hold the key to the problem.
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(SF; Andrea Cort) On Caithiriin,
murderers get a choice between execution or anti-violence treatment. No human
has had to make that choice before, but it's suspicious that the natives
almost always prefer death.
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(Post Apocalypse; Dreaming Cities) A
treacherous "angel" diverts Quinn from his goal to search the ruins
of the Dreaming City of Columbus for the key to continuing his journey west.
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(Time Travel) In 979 AD, the city of
Jinyang stands on the brink of destruction, but someone seems to be trying to
help it with technologies from the future.
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(SF; Andrea Cort) Draiken used to be a
spy, but now he wants revenge on his former masters, and he has a complicated
plan to enlist a former associate.
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(SF) A violent Martian mining town
reconstructs Wyatt Earp to try to restore order.
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Novelettes
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(Fantasy) The colony can't tolerate
assault, and it depends on Juvianna's gift of making people forget crime and
motivation alike. But what if she used it preventively?
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(SF) In a future Australia, Irving
sells his memories for ready cash, hoping to put his life back together. To
the extent he still remembers it.
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(SF Apocalypse) The kilometer-wide
asteroid didn't quite destroy civilization, but the things it brought with it
just might finish it off.
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(Slipstream) As a boy, Peng receives a
paoxiao, a mythical humanoid creature with a great ability for mimicry. As a
man, Peng tries to do research on the creature.
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(Historical Fantasy) Vasily is a tightrope
walker for the circus. When he thinks no one is around, he walks in thin air
on lines of light only he can see.
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Detroit
Hammersmith Zero-Gravity Toilet Repairman (Retired) by Suzanne
Palmer Time: 24m (Novelette) Issue: Analog 09|16
(Hard SF) At the height of diplomatic
meetings, the toilets in the Station start to malfunction, even though
diagnostics say nothing is wrong. So they call for an expert.
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(SF AI) Shelby's friend Vivian faces a
long recovery from a head injury, and she can't bear the loss of her company,
so she starts using an AI surrogate.
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(SF) The end of the world starts when
an ambitious marketing guy gets a cryptic assignment to create an ad campaign
to "make ugly sexy."
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(Fantasy/Horror) Three years ago,
nine-year-old Madrigal Baker disappeared. Recently, she returned, and she's
still nine. But her mom is sure something else is wrong.
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(Military Fantasy) Baekdo, a fox who
wants to become human, needs one more kill to achieve his goal. A collapsing
city in the middle of a civil war seems like a good place to do it but there
are complications.
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George
& Frank Tarr, Boy Avencherers, in 'Beeyon the Shours We Knowe!!!!'
by Thomas M.
Waldroon2 Time: 56m (Novelette) Issue: BCS 207
(Historical Fantasy) In 1879, little
George and his big brother run away from their farm and sail down the river
toward a new life in Pittsburgh
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Gorse
Daughter, Sparrow Son by Alena
Indigo Anne Sullivan1 Time: 25m (Novelette) Issue: Strange Horizons 08/08/16
(Fairy Tale) Jocelyn is a princess a
lot like Sleeping Beauty, but with a much better relationship with the
fairies. Not that that helps her.
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(Hard SF) Left behind on an alien
planet while his shipmates return to Earth to secure their claim, Ross
struggles to fill the time. Then strange things start to happen.
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(Magical Realism) Teenage Leep works
making circuit boards somewhere in the third world. He's so awkward and quiet
that people think he's crazy, but he sees a very different world.
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(Present-day SF; Stan) Stan's dad told
the most outrageous stories, and claimed their family were weird because they
were really aliens. In retirement, Stan believes it might even be true.
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(Near-Future SF) Lucas does jobs for
backups that their human originals won't agree to. But some backups are more
trouble than others.
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(Dystopia) Casey, a disabled vet in a
cheap, rebuilt body, tries walking to another city to find work, but trouble
is waiting out in the country.
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Sooner or
Later Everything Falls Into the Sea by Sarah
Pinsker Time: 25m (Novelette) Issue: Lightspeed 69
(Near-future SF) Bay lives alone and
subsists off things that wash ashore from cruise ships and such. Then Gabby
washes up, alive, and complicates her life.
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(High Fantasy) The Duelist serves the
cold, beautiful Carmela but loves Rose. Separating Rose from Caramela is
going to be the challenge of her life.
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(Portal Fantasy; Dungeonspace) Teenage
Ivan lost his brother in d-Space, but his new friend Domino is eager to
explore a dungeon that's supposed to be safe.
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(Post Apocalypse) Teenage Tetley lives
in a human settlement (one of the last) built on a miles-wide floating
garbage dump. She explains why everyone hates her now.
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(High Fantasy) Two teenage girls, Lin,
the last Jewel, and Sima, the last Lapidary, struggle to fight the invaders
who've taken the kingdom by treachery.
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(SF) A century from now, Tipper works
at an automated carnival, in a world with few jobs for humans. She falls in
with Luke, a boy trying to make an illegal manual car work.
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The Mighty Slinger
by Karen
Lord and Tobias S.
Buckell Time: 32m (Novelette) Issue: Bridging Infinity 2016
(Far-Future SF) Developers are
planning to resurface the entire Earth to create properties for people from
Mars and Venus. But can an old singer and his band rally the solar system
against it?
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(Greek Mythos) The trees in the grove
used to be women, and the Guardian protects them zealously from the men who
still pursue them.
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(Fantasy) From prehistoric times, the
stone man crouched on a hill. Every now and then a person would find it and
try to get it to do something. But to succeed was to die.
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The Thing
About Growing up in Jokertown by Carrie
Vaughn Time: 28m (Novelette) Issue: Tor.com 12/21/16
(Superhero SF; Wild Cards) In New York
City, ugly mutants stay in Jokertown, but teenage Rikki and her friends want
to do some exploring. It’s not exactly illegal, but it’s not exactly safe
either.
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(Mind Uploading) The prospect of
living forever through "iterations" is still new, and not everyone
likes it. Sonata wants to make a statement by declaring she will only upload
twice.
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(Fantasy) Someone (or something) is
taking Grandma Harken's tomatoes, but finding the thief leads to a real
mystery--and danger.
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(Fantasy Math) A strange student give
Professor Dunn a math problem whose solution will change the world.
Literally.
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(Hard SF) Fresh from Earth, Peter finds
himself assigned to an unpromising part of the colony planet, and he finds
the natives even harder to talk with than he'd expected.
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(Post Apocalypse) Hanger lives in a
canvas bag on the outside of the Empire State Building, but the secrets to
survival are hidden in the deadly mist far below.
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(SF) Months after mysterious aliens
scattered their spacecraft across North America, no one has a clue what they
want. Avery knows what one of them wants, though: it wants a tour.
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We Will Wake Among the Gods, Among the Stars by Caroline M. Yoachim and Tina
Connolly Time: 43m (Novelette) Issue: Analog 01.02|16
(SF) Nanne accompanies a jungle
expedition that seeks gold, but she secretly looks for a lost city with high
technology.
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(Historical Fantasy) In a magical Old
West, young Ellis has a love for the desert and an affinity for dead things.
Both of these attract unwelcome attention from strangers visiting from back
East.
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Short Stories
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(Near-Future SF) Jesse Is just in the
third grade, but his dad sends him letters telling him about the time-machine
experiment he's working on.
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(Sports SF) At the 2144 Olympics,
hosted by the thriving space colonies who survived Earth, Zory aims to win
despite her lack of augments.
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(Time Travel) An "illness"
causes a man to wake each morning in the previous day, and as he lives his
life backwards, he sees the mistakes he made.
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An Open Letter To The Person Who Took My Smoothie From The Break Room
Fridge by Oliver
Buckram Time: 02m (ShortStory) Issue: F&SF 07.08|16
(Cartoon Humor) Someone in the
Alliance of Doom has stolen Dr. Nemesis's smoothie, and he e-mails his fellow
super-villains to complain.
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(Hard SF) The human colony on Kokkal
IV can't expand without permission from the "Evermother," but the
local aliens require they "assimilate the shadows" first.
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(Dark Fantasy) Maggie's fisherman
father died at sea recently, and since then, she seems to have acquired some
supernatural powers.
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(SF) Gas leaking from a deep well is
slowly asphyxiating everyone in a community, and two boys discuss what they
can do about it.
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(SF Fantasy) When Earth's day changed
to 96 hours, some adapted (with drugs) and some did not (with lights). Now
they hate/fear each other. But two young people are curious.
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(Horror) Perdita lives in the house on
the hill and tends the graveyard. A traveler on a mission disturbs her
solitude, and a thing under the graveyard needs to be killed.
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(Slipstream) Grandpa is gone, but the
young narrator is determined to win the Tastiest Ribs competition in his
memory, even if he's not quite sure how you're supposed to use the dragon.
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(Fantasy) Dr. Kampfe's group of
travelling players visits Sevengraves, a place so poor that every performance
feels like charity.
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(Time Travel) Art's
twenty-years-future self returns to warn the graduate student that he's about
to ruin his life.
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(Modern Fantasy) Abused by his father,
Rafi leaves his small town, but he sends his best friend Becca a gift that
will change both their lives.
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(Sports SF) Pawl Maricelli, a referee
in the athletic contest meant to strengthen the fragile peace between humans
and Errellians, is threatened by those who don't want peace.
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(Modern Fantasy) Twenty years ago,
Jess was a teenage swamp witch in the Everglades. She flirted with the boys
and took what she wanted, but Ben saw her for what she really was.
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(Climate Change) On the edge of the
ruined land, village people worship Orcas as gods. Unbeliever Kelb is up to
something, and Adze tries to help him because she loves him.
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(Post Apocalypse) Filip is an advanced
AI, and his job is taking care of Ella, who may be the last person left on
Earth.
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Life In
Stone, Glass, And Plastic by José Pablo
Iriarte Time: 14m (ShortStory) Issue: Strange Horizons 06/13/16
(Modern Fantasy) Sergio is called to
remove an offensive mural, but when he touches it, it makes him
"remember" things from other people's lives.
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(Near-Future SF) A former critic of
the new US president works on a labor camp building a wall. Then the new
government gives him a way to earn his freedom.
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Mice Among Elephants
by Larry
Niven and Gregory
Benford Time: 24m (ShortStory) Issue: Bridging Infinity 2016
(Hard SF) Sunseeker decelerates into
the Excelsius system to investigate a gravity-wave generator built by
potentially hostile aliens.
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(Historical Fantasy) In a prison in
18th-century France, Montague struggles to redeem himself by completing one
last magical device before he dies.
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(SF) A woman on death row is offered a
fortune for her children if she'll let another woman take over her body.
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(Horror) In near-future Toronto, a
young Chinese-Canadian girl sneaks out to seek the services of an illegal
underground surgeon.
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(Zombie) Ever since he became a
zombie, Professor Wissen has felt unwanted by the university, although some
of his students think it's kind of cool.
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(Modern Fantasy) Two couples come to a
cabin by the lake to relax and enjoy four days together. Then one of them
disappears.
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Not by
Wardrobe, Tornado, or Looking Glass by Jeremiah Tolbert
Time: 17m (ShortStory) Issue: Lightspeed 69
(Portal Fantasy) Rabbit holes open at
random, summoning people to fairy-tale universes where they are the heroes.
Louisa keeps waiting for one to open for her.
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(SF Android) You adopt an android
baby. You name him Ben. He grows amazingly fast.
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(Climate Change) In 2048, things are
bad in Malaysia, especially for young refugees with no papers. Maslinia is
sure she could be successful, if she could only get a break.
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(Hard SF) A corroded railing gives
way, and Kent falls from a Venusian cloud city to near-certain death. But it
takes a long time to fall fifty kilometers.
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(Zombie) Jay helps hunt zombies at
night, but he secretly want to find his wife's zombie to say goodbye.
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(Historical Fantasy) In the Old West,
a murder under a full moon brings a thing across “The Line.” A thing seeking
vengeance, and with a broad idea of responsibility.
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(Sports SF Humor) KayT means to lead
her girls to victory in the cheerleading event at the Galactic games,
provided the Snargs don't eat them first.
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(Folk Tale) Sal, the country witch,
took a razorback hog as her familiar and named him Rawhead. Sal was a good
witch, but then Rawhead disappeared. Simple, but effective.
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(Black Historical Fantasy) In the
closing years of segregation, Emmaline uses her magic to help neighbors and
protect her children, for trouble is coming.
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(SF) When a feral robot steals her
phone, Renee acquires a keen interest in the little robotic ecosystem that
flourishes in the park.
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(Science Fantasy) As a physics grad
student, Sophie researches mirrors as potential gateways to alternate
realities. She shares her unexpected results.
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(Modern Fantasy) Malka is a little
Jewish girl living in Brooklyn in 1920. She likes her new friend, David, even
though he’s older than her, black, Christian, and claims to be dead.
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(Fairy Tale) Tabitha has been walking
a long time, trying to wear out seven pairs of iron shoes; Amira has been
sitting alone on a glass hill that suitors try to climb.
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(Cyber SF) Anj and EJ's fledgling
hacking business gets a contract to decrypt an old AI-encrypted USB drive.
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(Far Future SF) Mia marks her
birthdays as powers of 7, which gives her lots of time to work out her issues
with her mother.
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(Horror) Helena's mom's a witch, their
small town is blaming them for a missing boy, she and her girlfriend have to
stay in the closet, and to top it off, there are chicken skeletons walking
around.
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Some Things I Probably Should Have Mentioned Earlier by Laura Pearlman
Time: 05m (ShortStory) Issue: Mothership Zeta 3
(SF Humor) A man gets a letter from
his wife, explaining a few things. She's not exactly human, but that's not
the worst part.
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Something
Happened Here, But We're Not Quite Sure What It Was by Paul
McAuley Time: 20m (ShortStory) Issue: Tor.com 07/20/16
(Hard SF; Jackaroo) On the planet
First Foot, the small town of Joe's Corner faces conflict over building a
radio telescope close to local alien artifacts.
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(Slipstream) Electricity does strange
things around Arthur, especially when he gets excited. He's excited about
Christina, so their first date is going to be a real adventure.
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(SF) Despite not being a telepath,
Calla worked out a way to play chess with her captor, Major Larn, during the
recent war. Now they're going to finish their game.
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(SF Humor) Around 50 to 100 years from
now, a group of scientists resorts to counterfeiting money to shore up their
inadequate research grants.
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(Hard SF) Edith’s lab wants to improve
the Casimir pump enough to use it for space travel, but Edith can’t help
running her own experiments even without permission.
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The
Continuing Saga of Tom Corbett: Space Cadet by James Van
Pelt Time: 17m (ShortStory) Issue: Analog 12|16
(SF Adventure) Everyone calls Tomika
"Space Cadet," but she really feels she doesn't belong in this
world.
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The First
Confirmed Case Of Non-Corporeal Recursion: Patient Anita R. by
Benjamin
C. Kinney1 Time: 11m (ShortStory) Issue: Strange Horizons 06/06/16
(Paranormal) Anita used to study
ghosts, but now she is one, and she's finding it frustrating to always seem
to be arguing with her husband.
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(High Fantasy) The old magician rarely
takes students, but young Schmendrick has so much potential--if he could just
make his spells come out right.
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The Grocer's Wife: Enhanced Transcription by Michael Libling
Time: 18m (ShortStory) Issue: Asimov's 02|16
(SF) Thomas is in the early stages of
Alzheimer's, and his wife, Lynn, is trying to support him. Andy is spying on
him, and wondering why the government is interested in a retired grocer.
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(Indian Steampunk) Mr. and Mrs. Coates
came to India to hunt the most difficult prey, and no one can convince them
that hunting the Great Worm is suicide.
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(Hard SF) Ten-year-old Lee and his
best friend Ben discover a dead animal near their school playground--an
animal that shouldn't exist at all. Chilling.
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(Historical Fantasy) Horace was a
celebrated blues player, but he failed to make the move to jazz. Now he's
washed up, and desperate enough to sell his soul, if need be.
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(Modern Fantasy) In the near future,
Ben uses cryosleep for a side-effect: while he's under, he can meet his dead
wife. Trouble is, he has a new wife.
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(Cyber SF) Stricken with muscular
dystrophy, the teenage narrator lives almost entirely in VR, where she hopes
a rogue AI can save her.
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(Fantasy) Every year, Far Island rises
from the sea, and the spirits of the dead return to Near Island, until the
bone horses usher them back on the third day. The horses need a living rider,
and Rowan is sure she can do it and survive.
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(Chinese Fantasy; Candyman Ao) New to
Chengdu, young Ao doesn't expect the fearsome tiger spirit to ask him for a
favor--to rescue the Guardian of Chengdu. Ao has some magic, but cleverness
may be more important.
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(SF Horror) Professor Macguire's work
on multiple universes drove him insane, but Dean hopes to learn enough from
him to finish his dissertation.
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(Urban Fantasy) Jimmy and Morrie's
"Paranormal Services" investigates a haunted forest--tree farm,
actually.
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(Near Future SF) Kellsey's a
transsexual 11-year-old girl. Improved technology makes that easier, but also
creates new problems, and she seeks advice from recordings her mother made
for her "son" before she died.
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(SF) Vincent is a famous painter, but
he fears he's grown stale. He has a wild plan to reinvigorate his painting,
which starts with making a backup copy of himself.
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(Fantasy) Hilil weaves and ties the
best knots in Sulik, but a curse causes made things to fall apart at her
touch.
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(Far-Future SF) Kiu Alee escapes a
death sentence by agreeing to pilot a very special vehicle to a very
xenophobic arcology in deep space.
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Turing de Force
by Edward
M. Lerner Time: 12m (ShortStory) Issue: Science Fiction by Scientists 2016
(Hard SF) Two extraterrestrial AIs
arrive in our solar system and try to decide whether human beings are
intelligent.
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(Horror) When newlyweds Courtney and
Josh rent an old Victorian in Baltimore, they're told to stay out of the
attic. But they hear noises up there at night. Footsteps.
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(SF) Noel's mom is trying to raise an
alien child. Noel, age 10, hates this alien "brother" but can't
seem to get that across to him.
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We Have a
Cultural Difference, Can I Taste You? by Rebecca
Ann Jordan Time: 12m (ShortStory) Issue: Strange Horizons 04/18/16
(SF) Filo/Gee, an intelligent giant
amoeba, isn't the ideal college roommate, particularly since he experiences
the world through touching and tasting, which is hard on books, electronics,
and relationships.
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(Navajo Fantasy) An old Navajo myth
intersects the modern world unexpectedly.
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(Hard SF) The transmitter sends copies
of people to remote locations, but the copies don't want to do their jobs,
and Margery is in trouble if she can't figure out why.
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(SF Humor) If Liz can just get a few
more species to participate, she can get bowling added as an event in the
Intergalactic Games. It's a bad time to have fone problems.
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(SF Thriller) The narrator is a con
man in near-future Thailand, and he has a scheme that might net him enough to
retire.
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(Fantasy Humor) Angels who operate the
Celestial Switchboard fielding mortal prayer requests get frustrated and even
depressed.
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